Where are you going tonight?

[TANGODANCER]

Another, The Empire (the bug hut), bottom of Blackburn Road near the Waterloo pub. And another, The Palladium, Bridge Street.

[William the White]

Capitol Cinema, Churchgate, Bolton

Gem Cinema, Darley Street / Shepherd Cross Street, Bolton

Grand Theatre, Churchgate, Bolton

Hippodrome Theatre, Deansgate, Bolton

Lido, Bradshawgate, Bolton

Majestic Cinema, St Helen's Road, Bolton

Odeon Cinema, Ashburner Street, Bolton

Palace Cinema, Bury Road, Bolton

Palais de Danse, Bridge Street / St George's Road, Bolton

Queen's Cinema, Trinity Street / Bradshawgate, Bolton

Regent Cinema, Deane Road, Bolton

Rialto Cinema, St George’s Road, Bolton

Ritz Cinema, Fletcher Street, Bolton

Royal Cinema, St George’s Road, Bolton

Theatre Royal, Churchgate, Bolton

Tivoli Cinema, Derby Street, Bolton

Victoria Hall, Knowsley Street, Bolton

Windsor Cinema, Deane Road, Bolton

Brilliant. Thanks Caps. Just one missing, my local, The Carlton (known as the Mount because it was in Mount Street).

The Gem your local as well, surely?

Was mine from me Arnold St home...

[TANGODANCER]

The Gem your local as well, surely?
Was mine from me Arnold St home...

Aye was just a short walk from where we lived, just below St Josephs. My auntie lived in Darley Street ( had one in Arnold Street too and I remember Donnelly's shop) and The Gem was a regular Saturday night venue. Not much difference from either in distance from our house. The Mount was a bit of a flea-pit really and mainly Saturday afternoon matinees.

[clapton is god]

My local was the Rialto on St Georges Road, just round the corner from Vernon Street. Lots of Saturday morning club outings seeing The Purple Cloud etc. The first film I remember seeing is Hell Drivers but probably not on its first run in 1957.

[bobo the clown]

There were 2 in Horwich by my time, though one closed when I was about 8 and the other .... well, I think kids like me helped in it's demise into a Bingo Hall a fair few years later.

The one which closed was known to me as "Johnny's Flea Pit". I suspect that wasn't it's official title.

The other, just "over the Bridge" & opposite the Dog (later to become Tony Knowles' club) was known, imaginatively, as "The Picture House". Single screened, with an upstairs gallary as well as a large downstairs auditorium we had the Saturday morning specials. I honestly don't recall much about the films, but do recall the opportunity for mayhem afforded by a load of kids gathering in the dark. They closed the upstairs to kids after a while as it simply became a launch-pad for missiles (solid AND liquid) onto the poor sods below. The final straw being, I recall, when 2 kids fell over the edge whilst re-enacting some scene they'd just watched.

Pea-Shooters and pea-guns were banned, for what good a ban did them. I also recall taking in pockeloads of elderberry's. Stripped from the flower heads the fruit, while still hard, was flung in huge swathes on the kids in front, or casually flicked over your head into the faces of kids 3 or 4 rows back.

The owd woman (I bet she was well over 30) selling ice-cream off a tray used to be deluged by kids as she came out to sell at the interval ... whatever she sold must have been outweighed by the amount lost to flying hands pushing through the crowds and simply taking what they could.

Intervals ??? ... either between the first & second films .... yes kids, they always showed films in pairs ... or in the interval during a film. Again, yes, intervals ... as the films were on spool-reels the projectionist had to swap over the reels & so longer films had a 10 minute interval. Any ... & I mean ANY delay beyond the expected ... or film snap during a reel, meaning a delay would be rapidly met with cat-calls, foot-stamping, chorus' of "why are we waiting ?" and general pandemonium.

An abiding memory was a new manager coming onto the dias, in front of the screen and PLEADING for the bedlam to cease ... & him being the target of hundreds of Black Jacks, Fruit Salads, parma violets, midget gems etc., etc.

I saw Dr. No & Goldfinger there. The first Dr. Who film, the Morecambe & Wise films and a good number of Carry On's (films ... we were too young & disinterested for proper carry-ons. Though maybe if I'd looked toward the back at the slightly older kids I may have learnt a few things).

The days were when films were repeated throughout the day and so you'd not be too fussed at arriving on time & would simply sit through the pause between films and wait till you came back to the point where you'd come in.

I wonder why they closed ?

[thebish]

The days were when films were repeated throughout the day and so you'd not be too fussed at arriving on time & would simply sit through the pause between films and wait till you came back to the point where you'd come in.

I remember seeing several films like that - the second half - then the first half! my kids look at me as if I have stepped off another planet when I mention it...

[bobo the clown]

The days were when films were repeated throughout the day and so you'd not be too fussed at arriving on time & would simply sit through the pause between films and wait till you came back to the point where you'd come in.

I remember seeing several films like that - the second half - then the first half! my kids look at me as if I have stepped off another planet when I mention it...

... &, to be fair, quite rightly.

It's so amazing that this was how it worked you have to think "do I recall that correctly ?" but it IS what happened.

[Bruce Rioja]

My dad says he used to go to The Bell, which was at the bottom of Belmont Road. Anyone remember it?

[TANGODANCER]

My dad says he used to go to The Bell, which was at the bottom of Belmont Road. Anyone remember it?

That rings one....oh,er....sorry. Way back I know and I never went there, but yes, it actually does..

[TANGODANCER]

Not cinemas, but Bolton used to have two roller-skating rinks too. The Navada (which most will remember, on Spa Road (they used to park the Burnden hot-dog carts at the side of it, chained up), and one round the corner from The Gem Cinema on Shephard Cross Street. Add in The Palais, Crompton Way Casino, The Aspin and The Empress night clubs, to all the cinemas, and we were quite the entertainment Metropolis back then.

Footnote on cinemas: The Hippodrome? in Farnworth had its moment of glory when Bolton cinemas banned "Rock around the Clock" and everybody gotthe No 43 and went touring. Cinema went fxcking bonkers with everybody dancing in the aisles.

[clapton is god]

^ A third roller skate ring above Bridgeman Street baths too. Every Saturday we came out of here into the little bakery oposite or out of Moss Street baths into the temperance cafe for a nettle beer.

[TANGODANCER]

^ A third roller skate ring above Bridgeman Street baths too. Every Saturday we came out of here into the little bakery oposite or out of Moss Street baths into the temperance cafe for a nettle beer.

You're right. Also a baths at High Street. And the nettle-beer/sapirilla temperance cafe was Johnny Shefield's at the top of Waterloo Street. There was also a right dive of a cafe (Joe's Cafe ?) on the opposite corner.

[Bruce Rioja]

The vending machine at Moss Street baths used to dispense the finest hot choccie known to man. And that is an actual fact

[TANGODANCER]

The vending machine at Moss Street baths used to dispense the finest hot choccie known to man. And that is an actual fact

Probably replaced the penny machine when Brylcreem went out of fashion.

[boltonboris]

Well, I aint going to the Flying Shuttle (Or the lying Slut) in Farnworth!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... fwcl=1&fwl" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[ohjimmyjimmy]

I bet quiz night was a laugh there..
'Question 1: What the f*ck are you looking at?'
'Question 2: Did you just spill my pint?'
etc etc

[Verbal]

Well, I aint going to the Flying Shuttle (Or the lying Slut) in Farnworth!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... fwcl=1&fwl" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Ha! I live on the same road as that, about 200yard further up.

About time to be honest. Had more managers than I've had hot dinners and it's always been a shit hole.

[TANGODANCER]

I bet quiz night was a laugh there..
'Question 1: What the f*ck are you looking at?'
'Question 2: Did you just spill my pint?'etc etc

I once did spill some ale, over a blokes shoes. Not much, just caught the bar with my glass. "Ah, sorry about that mate" I said, as one would. The bloke, an obvious prat, puffed his chest out and said: "Sorry? Sorry. I just paid (xx amount) to have these shoes cleaned." Before I could reply, my brother, who was on the other side of me said: "You got done mate. The fxcking shoes aren't worth that, and the twxt wearing em ain't even worth a wxnk. That do you?"

It did.

[Bruce Rioja]

Spilled ale over Andy Gregory once on a do I was on at Kilhey Court when all the Wigan RL team had turned up. I braced myself for a smack in the chops, but he couldn't have been nicer about it.

[Worthy4England]

Spilled ale over Andy Gregory once on a do I was on at Kilhey Court when all the Wigan RL team had turned up. I braced myself for a smack in the chops, but he couldn't have been nicer about it.

Away with you man. You must be about twice poor little Andy's size, he's only 5ft blinking 5.

Even I'm bigger.